Old Testament

Why Creation Matters, Part 20: Psalms 4

May 7, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

One Psalm derives from Creation that God is wise:

⁵To him that by wisdom made the heavens: For his mercy endureth for ever. ⁶To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: For his mercy endureth for ever. ⁷To him that made great lights: For his mercy endureth for ever: ⁸The sun to rule by day: For his mercy endureth for ever: ⁹The moon and stars to rule by night: For his mercy endureth for ever (Ps 136).

This Psalm is an antiphonal hymn, with each verse including the refrain “For his mercy endureth for ever.” To our Western tastes this seems boring and distracting, but that’s because we don’t understand what’s going on here. Musicians will understand what “antiphonal” means: the leader reads or sings the first statement in the verse, and the chorus or audience repeats the refrain each time. This does two things: it cements the refrain in the minds of all who hear, and it allows them to hear plainly the “verses,” which specify the multiple ways the refrain is demonstrated. Thus it feels choppy to us, occasionally dividing sentences right the middle. It’s not intended to flow smoothly, like a Byron poem; it’s intended to challenge and convince the mind.

Let me take a moment, then, to develop the main idea in the Psalm before I develop the main idea of this post.

I’ve written before on the Hebrew word hesed, which is the “mercy” repeated in the refrain. It’s best captured, I think, as “steadfast loving loyalty.” The Big Idea, then, is that God has a loving relationship with his people and he will be unfailingly loyal to it. Every one of the 26 verses in this Psalm gives evidence of that fact.

It is a pleasure and a privilege to know and walk daily with such a person.

But we’ve come to this Psalm because of specific point the psalmist makes in verses 5-9. He cites God’s creative work—heaven, earth, the sun, the moon—as being products and therefore evidences of his wisdom.

What’s wisdom? It’s not simply intelligence, although it does include that. In Hebrew the word emphasizes the practical: wisdom is the ability to get things done. It’s close to what we call “common sense,” though it isn’t all that common.

The idea here is that God executed his purposes perfectly, flawlessly. The heavens and the earth and the sun and the moon are, and function, precisely as he intended them to, and thus as they should.

We sometimes come across people who seem to do everything right: perhaps an extremely well-disciplined musician or athlete. They execute well because they are diligent to practice and practice and practice and practice. And there’s always the possibility that they might miss a note, or a line drive.

God’s not like that. He executes perfectly because that’s who he is. He knows how to get things done, and right, every time. The cosmos is evidence of that.

And in the context of this Psalm, it’s evidence as well of his unfailing loyalty to his commitments.

I’ll note that the theme of wisdom is developed deftly, and much more thoroughly, in the book of Proverbs. We’ll get there in a bit.

But first, we need to look at one more theme, and then one more Psalm, one that’s completely given to a consideration of creation.

Two more posts on the Psalms, then one on Proverbs, and then we’re done.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Why Creation Matters, Part 19: Psalms 3

May 4, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Two Psalms, both well known, speak of Creation as revealing the glory of God.

Psalm 8 

Psalm 8 begins and ends with a refrain: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent [majestic, glorious] is thy name in all the earth!” The first refrain adds, “Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.” In comparison with those heavens, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (Ps 8.4).

There’s a lot more going on in this Psalm than just this; it repeats the Dominion Mandate from Genesis 1.26-28, and it has Messianic implications as well. But for our purposes, we’ll focus on Creation’s role as a display of the glory of God: his power, his dominion, his greatness.

Those who suppress their recognition of the Creator (Ro 1.18-20) are denied this avenue of worship.

Does the suppression empower the denial, or does the denial empower the suppression?

Good question.

Psalm 19.1-6

¹The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork. ²Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night sheweth knowledge.

These two verses demonstrate the theme, but of course the thought continues for 4 more verses, which emphasize the global reach of this display of glory, with a special emphasis on the dominant feature of the heavens, the sun, which appears, as David’s simile so artfully paints it, “as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber” (Ps 19.5).

We now know that David’s perspective, 10 centuries before Christ, was but a drop in the cosmic bucket. In the daytime, he had no idea how far the sun was radiating its heat, so far away that the light he was seeing was 8 minutes in the past. He didn’t know how large or hot it was. He was blind to the frequent solar prominences that briefly exceed the size of the earth. At night, even with the advantage of deliverance from light pollution, he could see perhaps a thousand stars, and all of them confined to a single galaxy.

Galaxy? What’s that? He didn’t know that we’re part of a galaxy, the Milky Way. (The Greek word galaxias means “milky.”) He certainly didn’t know that there are more galaxies, millions of them, gathered in clusters, for as far as the very best of our telescopes can see, 50 billion light years in every direction—and that’s not the end of it. He didn’t know about the planets, or their rings, or the asteroid belt, or the heliosphere, or the Oort cloud, or the boundary out there where the molecules are unbelievably hot but feel cold because they’re so far apart.

He didn’t know any of that.

But he was still awed simply by what he could see with his unaided eyes. The Psalm makes it clear that just the sun and visible stars were enough to bring him to his knees.

The Psalm considers the heavens for just 6 verses. The 8 remaining verses turn our attention to a more reliable revelation of God’s glory, the Scripture. The words David uses for it (law, testimony, statutes, commandment, judgments) make it clear that he has in mind the Torah, the 5 books of Moses; that and Joshua may have been all he had access to, besides the songs he was writing.

It speaks volumes that he turns with such focus, respect, and delight to some 500-year-old writings after being so deeply moved by what he has seen in the heavens. We realize that that’s what the heavens should do; they should turn us to the words of the One who made them.

There’s more in the Psalms. Next time.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 18: Psalms 2

April 30, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Psalm 90.2

Another theme developed in the Psalms, based on Creation, is the concept of eternality. In the only Psalm designated as written by Moses, he writes,

²Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God (Ps 90).

The logic is simple. If the cosmos is created, then the Creator must have existed before his act of creation. It’s not a great leap of logic from there to eternity past; anyone who could create such a cosmos was likely not new at it.

Those who deny theistic creation have wrestled with the question of precedence. A century ago a scientist proposed an “oscillating universe” theory, which would have the universe expanding and collapsing in a possibly infinite series of cycles, but mainstream cosmology rejected it for the currently popular “Big Bang” model (though I’ve seen some indications lately that the cyclic model might be making a comeback).

So what was there before the Big Bang? In his work A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Stephen Hawking argued that at the moment of singularity, all laws of physics were rendered inoperative, with the result that we have no tools with which to investigate what preceded. So we don’t know, and we can’t know.

In the biblical narrative, we can know, and we do know, though the details are limited. God did exist before the creation of the world, and he was doing things: specifically, the Father and the Son were in a loving relationship (Jn 17.24); the Father was foreordaining the Son to redeem humans with his own blood (1P 1.20)—which necessitates the foreordination of the incarnation; and God engaged in the work of election (Ep 1.4). Undoubtedly there’s more—a lot more—but it remains a mystery to us, at least for now.

Psalm 102.25-27

The Mosaic passage does not confine God’s existence to eternity past; he specifies God’s eternal future as well: “from everlasting to everlasting.” An anonymous Psalmist adds to that testimony:

²⁵Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: And the heavens are the work of thy hands. ²⁶They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: ²⁷But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end (Ps 102).

Here the writer contrasts God’s eternality to the mortality of creation: “They shall perish, but thou shalt endure.” We are foolish to place our hope or our confidence in material things—including other humans—because they are all temporary. Gold, silver, real estate, political leaders (especially political leaders!), friends, lovers—they will all pass away.

But the Creator will not. As we’ve noted earlier, the author of Hebrews cites this passage and applies it specifically to the Son, demonstrating that he is infinitely superior to the angels (He 1.10-12). I also note that here in the Psalms, the author makes an application that the author of Hebrews chooses not to:

²⁸The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee.

The fact that God is eternal has personal ramifications for us. For as long as the present earth endures, God’s people will reproduce, their heritage will continue, and their God will know them.

God’s eternality enables his faithfulness.

Those who deny creation have no such assurance, no such hope.

Creation indeed matters.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 17: Psalms 1

April 27, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

This post isn’t about Psalm 1; if it were, “Psalms 1” would be a barbarism. Rather it is one of several posts on the Psalms—”Psalms, Episode 1,” if you will.

The book of Psalms contains the largest collection of creation theology in the Scripture, even more that we should expect proportionally from the longest book in the Bible. By my count, there are 16 references, appearing in all but one of the collection’s 5 “books,” with Book 5, Psalms 107-150, being the most densely populated.

As we might expect from the relatively high numbers, these references develop several applicational themes. I’d like to take a few posts to cover them.

Deliverance

The most obvious deduction about the Creator, I think, is his power, evident from the vastness of the heavens and the evident power of earthly forces. It would make sense for God’s people, then, to call on his power for their protection and deliverance:

¹⁶The day is thine, the night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun. ¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter. … ¹⁹O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: Forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever (Ps 74).

¹¹The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: As for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. ¹²The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon [significant mountains] shall rejoice in thy name. ¹³Thou hast a mighty arm: Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. ¹⁴Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. ¹⁵Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance (Ps 89).

²My help cometh from the Lord, Which made heaven and earth (Ps 121).

⁵Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God: ⁶Which made heaven, and earth, The sea, and all that therein is: Which keepeth truth for ever: ⁷Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: Which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners: ⁸The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: The Lord loveth the righteous: (Ps 146).

Blessing

A second, related theme is that of blessing, which I suppose we could consider the positive side of deliverance, or perhaps an extension of it:

¹²The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. ¹³He will bless them that fear the Lord, Both small and great. ¹⁴The Lord shall increase you more and more, You and your children. ¹⁵Ye are blessed of the Lord Which made heaven and earth (Ps 115).

¹Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, Which by night stand in the house of the Lord. ²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.³The Lord that made heaven and earth Bless thee out of Zion (Ps 134).

I note that this last passage speaks of reciprocity: we bless him, and he blesses us. This is not to say that we bless him in order to evoke his blessing, or that he blesses us because we bless him; this isn’t about back-scratching. But it does demonstrate that the Creator and his people are in relationship; they love and communicate with and respond to one another.

Our consideration of the creation should affect us in these ways as well. We should be convinced of his power to deliver and to bless, and we should seek and respond to him in appropriate ways.

Next time: Psalms 2, which will not be about Psalm 2.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Why Creation Matters, Part 16: Job

April 23, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

I’ve saved the Wisdom Literature for last in this series; ending with this biblical genre, I think, forms a nice climax to this material.

Job may well be the oldest book in the Bible. Genesis records earlier events, of course, since it begins with creation, but Job, the man, sounds as though he’s earlier than Moses, possibly by quite a bit.

We all know the story. Satan, the Accuser, accuses Job of taking the easy path in life, and God, knowing otherwise, puts Job to the test. Job and his three friends, plus a latecomer named Elihu, discuss all this at some length, and in poetry. I’ve addressed some of these matters before.

Jumping to the end of the story, we find God addressing Job’s questions not by answering them, but by noting, in so many words, that Job is not in a position to understand the answer if he were to give it (Job 38.1-3). In essence God says, “You’re just going to have to trust me on this.”

He begins that response with Creation (Job 38.4-7) and then proceeds to Providence (Job 38.8ff).

⁴Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if thou hast understanding.
⁵Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who hath stretched the line upon it?
⁶Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
Or who laid the corner stone thereof;
⁷When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Here God speaks to the very beginnings of philosophy. Those who search for meaning have to start somewhere, and God asserts that they simply don’t have the data they need to do that.

When God began drawing the blueprints for the cosmos, he made decisions about measurements—scale, metrics, and so on (Job 38.5). We’re not equipped even to probe that question; as far as we can tell, the cosmos is infinite. Scientists give it a radius of about 50 billion light years—oh, within a gigaparsec or so—but that’s not a radius; it’s just how far we can see (the “observable universe”). They’re pretty sure that’s not where “the edge” is—and how would we recognize “the edge” if we could see it?

So maybe it’s infinite.

But how can it be infinite?

We have no idea what we’re even talking about.

God’s response to Job continues.

With the blueprints in place, he began pouring the footers, so to speak.

Into what did he pour them (Job 38.6)?

And where did he place the cornerstone?

We know that in the early days of civilization, humans mastered construction techniques that still puzzle us today.

How did they build the pyramids?

How did the Rapa Nui create those massive human moai on Easter Island?

How did the Incas perfect dry-fit ashlar masonry?

But for all we humans could do, even early in our history, we can’t begin to fathom how to position a cosmos in empty space—or how to create the empty space to begin with.

When God did that, the angels of heaven were astonished and overjoyed to the point of exultation (Job 38.7).

God is infinitely beyond us. He is knowable, but he is not comprehensible. And creation demonstrates that, from the very beginning.

Sometimes the only appropriate response is just to sit quietly, to see, and to wonder.

To wonder at the glory of it all, and to wonder that this Creator offers us a relationship with him.

Those who will not see have no idea what they’re missing.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 8: Minor Prophets

March 26, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

What we call the Minor Prophets the Hebrew canon calls The Book of the Twelve, a single book in the Latter Prophets with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Within this book I’d like to focus on 3 Creation passages, 1 each in Amos, Jonah, and Zechariah.

Amos 5.8

Amos is one of the earliest of all the writing prophets. He is writing to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, calling them to confess and repent of their sins in light of the coming invasion by Assyria. He begins chapter 5 by predicting their downfall (Amos 5.2), a literal decimation (Amos 5.3). He gives them yet another chance to repent (Amos 5.4-6), culminating with a reminder of God’s great power to do all his will:

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,
And turneth the shadow of death into the morning,
And maketh the day dark with night:
That calleth for the waters of the sea,
And poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
The LORD is his name:
9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong,
So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress (Amos 5.8-9).

As we’ve seen earlier, God here presents not only his power to create (the seven stars and Orion), but his power to direct both cosmic (day / night, sea / land) and political (spoiled [looted] / strong) forces.

The God who can—and does—do these things can both overwhelm the unrepentant in judgment and deliver the repentant.

Jonah 1.9

Jonah, writing at roughly the same time as Amos, demonstrates the truth of his prophetic colleague’s words by his own actions—and disobedient ones at that.

Jonah rejects God’s command to preach the destruction of Nineveh—as we later learn, because he knows that God will forgive those who repent (Jonah 4.2)—and purchases a boat fare in the other direction, to Tarshish. God then hurls a storm upon the Mediterranean, one so fierce that seasoned sailors believe they’re done for. They cast lots to determine who is being judged by the storm, and the lot falls to Jonah. When they ask him for an explanation, he replies,

I fear [worship] the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land (Jonah 1.9).

The God who created the sea, and separated it from the land—boy, would these sailors love to bring them back together right now!—can bring overwhelming judgment. But, Jonah says, he will also deliver them if they obey him.

Just what Amos said.

Zechariah 12.1

The Creation theology of the Hebrew Scriptures ends* on a positive note. Zechariah is a post-exilic prophet, an exact contemporary of Haggai. Both of them worked together to encourage the returned exiles from Babylon to rebuild the Temple, initiating the Second Temple Period. A major theme in both prophets is the blessing and even glory that lie ahead for God’s people in Jerusalem.

Here Zechariah describes God as the one who

stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth,
And formeth the spirit of man within him (Zec 12.1b).

To these returnees, who have been rebuilding the Temple, Zechariah speaks of a God who knows something about laying a foundation and using a measuring line, who has invested mankind with his very breath (and thereby his image [Gen 1.26-27]), will take notice of their obedience in building and will demonstrate his love for them by blessing them in the days ahead. He even looks ahead to the day when the Shepherd will be smitten and the sheep will be scattered (Zec 13.7), and beyond even that to the Day of the Lord, when his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives (Zec 14.1-4), and God will usher in a day when “every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts” (Zec 14.21).

All will be well, because the God who began it all, powerfully and intelligently, will bring it to his benevolent and designed conclusion.

Creation matters.

* Malachi makes a brief reference to Creation (Mal 2.10) as the unifying basis for God’s covenant people—a fitting closure to the Older Covenant.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 7: Jeremiah

March 23, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Jeremiah’s prophecy resembles Isaiah’s in many ways, even though they certainly never met; Isaiah wrote in the 700s BC, while Jeremiah wrote more than a century later, in the late 600s and early 500s. But they have the same focus: the sin of Judah and the coming judgment by Babylon. (Incidentally Ezekiel is Jeremiah’s contemporary, but he’s writing from Babylon, while Jeremiah is in Judah. Ezekiel has little to say about Creation theology, unless one counts his reference to the creation of the king of Tyre / Satan in chapter 28.)

Jeremiah uses Creation as evidence for the Creator’s power and sovereignty in 4 passages. Because 2 of them are quite similar, I’ll discuss them together.

Jeremiah 10.12

In this chapter Jeremiah is mocking the makers and worshipers of idols for the evident stupidity of their practices: “the customs of the people are vanity [empty]” (Jer 10.3). They cut down a tree and decorate it (Jer 10.3-9), but they themselves know that this piece of wood and metal did not create the cosmos (Jer 10.11). On the contrary, God did (Jer 10.12), and he maintains, empowers, and directs it at his will (Jer 10.13). And it is this God who will direct Judah into judgment (Jer 10.17-25). As in Isaiah, the opening narrative of the Hebrew Scriptures is the basis for God’s judgment on their idolatry.

Jeremiah 27.5; 51.15

In chapter 27 God orders Jeremiah to send a message to the nations surrounding Judah, who have been her enemies over the centuries (Jer 27.1-3): the Creator (Jer 27.5) is sending judgment at the hands of Babylon (Jer 27.6-11). The God who has placed the nations in their lands can remove and replace them just as easily (Jer 27.5-6). Even Judah will come under that judgment (Jer 27.12-22). Chapter 51 carries the account a step further: though God has used Babylon as his tool to bring judgment to these nations (Jer 51.20-23), he will hold Babylon / Chaldea to account as well for the fury with which they carried out God’s judgment (Jer 51.1-14). That nation too will be humbled and defeated by the Medes (essentially the Persians; Jer 51.11, 28) and aligned nations as well (Jer 51.27). God goes on at some length describing the destruction that is coming to great Babylon (Jer 51.24-58).

Jeremiah 32.17

In chapter 32 Jeremiah engages in an exercise to demonstrate his confidence in God’s promise: he buys a parcel of land and signs the deed (Jer 32.9-10).

The enemy is at the gates. This is a really bad time to invest in real estate.

But he does.

We’ll be back, he says, and I’ll claim my property.

Of course, since it’s 70 years away, the property will have to go to his heirs.

Why does Jeremiah do this? Isn’t it the equivalent of saving your Confederate money?

Not at all. God has promised that Judah will return after 70 years (Jer 25.11-12; 29.10). Jeremiah believes him. (Incidentally, 70 years later Daniel reads this prophecy, and he believes it too. See Daniel 9.1-2.)

How can he believe God so strongly?

Because this God created the heavens and the earth. He can do anything; “there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jer 32.17). He has delivered Judah from Egypt (Jer 32.20-21) and brought them into Canaan (Jer 32.22), even though he knew that they would rebel against him once they were there (Jer 32.23).

Yes, Babylon is coming (Jer 32.24). Sign the deed (Jer 32.25). You’ll be back (Jer 32.37).

And better yet, God will change the Judahites from the inside out, making them a different kind of people (Jer 32.38-42). After the return from Babylon, Judah never had a problem with idolatry again. And further, under the New Covenant (Jer 31.31-34), God’s people—of all nations—are regenerated and sanctified from the inside out. But that’s another series.

And Jeremiah’s won’t be the only property deed (Jer 32.43-44).

There’s a second message from God in chapter 33, and it too begins with Creation: “Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name” (Jer 33.2). And then comes the famous verse,

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not (Jer 33.3).

We, too, can call on the Creator and depend on his promises.

Creation matters.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 6: Isaiah

March 19, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: From the Beginning | Part 3: The Flood | Part 4: The Sabbath | Part 5: Deliverance

I commented in the previous post that there’s a lot of Creation theology in the Latter Prophets, what Protestants call the Major and Minor Prophets. Something I didn’t mention last time is that the passage discussed in that post, 2 Kings 18.9ff, has a close parallel in Isaiah 37.14ff; the same event is described in both passages.

I’d like to spend this post looking at Isaiah’s Creation theology; the next post, looking at Jeremiah’s; and the third taking a dip into the Minor Prophets.

Isaiah is one of the earliest writing prophets, laboring in the 700s BC. During his time Assyria is the world power, taking the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity and ending its royal line. But surprisingly, Isaiah writes of a time when Assyria is effectively no more; rather he looks ahead more than a century, to when Babylon will be the power—that prophecy alone would have been surprising, if not completely unbelievable—and when Judah will have its time in exile.

But he looks beyond that too, to a (Persian) ruler named Cyrus, whom he calls his “anointed one”(messiah) and to someone else, whom he calls “My Servant.” All of these passages use Creation theology.

Isaiah 42.5

This is the first of Isaiah’s famous “Servant Songs,” which culminate in the well-known Isaiah 53. After describing the humble and gentle character of his Servant (Is 42.1-3)—as well as his certain victory (Is 42.4)—Isaiah records the words of God himself, beginning with his reference to the Creation (Is 42.5). The God who can do this, he says, will certainly call and keep and empower his Servant, who will liberate not only his covenant people, but the Gentiles as well (Is 42.6-9).

The God who created the cosmos will certainly rule it wisely and well and will accomplish his own purposes throughout its existence.

Isaiah 44.23-45.18

This passage, which lies between the first two Servant Songs, focuses on God’s deliverance of Judah from captivity in Babylon and their consequent return to the land. The God who created the universe (Is 44.24) and who overrules the plans of the wicked, those who defy the created order (Is 44.25), and who empowers his servants (Is 44.26), will certainly restore Judah and Jerusalem (Is 44.26). Further, he will use the pagan king Cyrus of Persia to accomplish this (Is 44.28).

Keep in mind that Isaiah is writing well over a century before Cyrus was even born. God can do that too. Cyrus is “my shepherd” (Is 44.28) and “my anointed [Messiah]” (Is 45.1). He can no more oppose or frustrate the will of God than a lump of clay can resist the potter. The Creator will do all his will.

Isaiah 48.13-15

God continues to assert his will over Babylon (also called the Chaldeans). The God who tells the heavens what to do faces no challenges from a temporary earthly kingdom—and one whose domain is merely local (if a big local from its perspective) at that.

Isaiah 51.13-17

God now turns his attention from Babylon to Judah. If your God has made heaven and earth—and your own Scripture starts with that foundational fact—then why are you afraid of Babylon, your oppressor? How does it make any sense to be intimidated by an entity that is utterly powerless before God your maker?

Indeed, if the Creator pronounces your sentence completed (Is 51.17), then what can possibly cause it to continue?

Isaiah’s Creation theology is straightforward: the Creator’s demonstrated power to begin the cosmos is convincing evidence of his power to maintain and direct it—whether through the successful ministry of his Divine Servant, through conforming decisions of pagan kings, or through the informed trust of his people.

Creation matters.

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Why Creation Matters, Part 5: Deliverance 

March 16, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: From the Beginning | Part 3: The Flood | Part 4: The Sabbath 

Having surveyed the first section of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Torah, or Law—the 5 books of Moses—we turn now to the second, the Prophets. This section is normally divided into the Former Prophets, what we Protestants call the books of History, and the Latter Prophets, what we call the Major and Minor Prophets. There’s a lot of creation material in the Latter Prophets, but I’m going to touch on just one passage in the Former.

During the reign of Hezekiah, Assyria invades, conquers, and takes into exile the northern kingdom of Israel, where Hoshea is king (2K 18.9-12). Ten years later, as one would expect of an invading king who has faced resistance from both these kingdoms, the new Assyrian king, Sennacherib, turns his attention to the southern kingdom of Judah. He begins by merely demanding tribute in the form of silver and gold. Hezekiah strips the precious metals from Solomon’s Temple and turns them over (2K 18.13-16).

Sennacherib, however, is not yet done. Perhaps noting Hezekiah’s initial cooperation, the Assyrian sends emissaries, backed up by a large army, to mock Hezekiah and to threaten to destroy Jerusalem (2K 18.17-37). He calls for the city’s complete surrender, if necessary against the wishes of their king.

This is no mean threat. In these days Assyria is the Big Kid on the Block, the conquering army that can operate at will across the Near East. Sennacherib’s emissaries have made threats, and they can keep every one of them.

But things are different in the South. Whereas Hoshea, the northern king, had been evil, Hezekiah is godly; and placing the Creator of heaven and earth on the scales tips them infinitely toward Hezekiah.

The godly king humbles himself as he seeks God’s presence in the (much reduced) Temple. He sends messengers to the leading prophet at the time, Isaiah, and requests his prayer for the nation (2K 19.1-4). Isaiah responds, apparently quickly, that God will deliver his people from even this essentially omnipotent king; he will need to return to his land, where God will judge him with death (2K 19.5-7).

The prophecy eventuates. On his way out of Judah, Sennacherib assures Hezekiah of his eventual return and the defeat of Judah (2K 19.8-13). His ground? That the gods of the surrounding nations have not been able to deliver their people.

Ah. Logical flaw, comparing the gods of the nations to Judah’s God. Hezekiah takes Sennacherib’s written diatribe before the Lord in the Temple and tells him:

“O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. ¹⁷Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands ¹⁸and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God” (2K 19.15-19).

Powerful words. The gods of the nations do not deliver, because they cannot; they are not gods, or even persons, or even sentient beings at all. They are wood and stone, themselves the creations of men’s imaginations and craftsmanship.

But Judah’s God, this God, is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. He made all things from nothing, with spoken words. Any God who can do this can do anything else, if he wants to. And if his prophet has assured Hezekiah that Judah will be delivered, then it will most surely be delivered.

And it is, spectacularly. The angel of this God massacres the Assyrian army as they sleep in their tents (2K 19.35), and upon returning home, Sennacherib is murdered, ironically enough, as he is worshiping his own (false) god.

This Creator God can do anything. He certainly can deliver his people from finite enemies.

Now, the God who created and made covenant with Hezekiah is also the one who created and has made covenant with his people today. We are safe in his care.

Creation matters.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Why Creation Matters, Part 4: The Sabbath

March 12, 2026 by Dan Olinger Leave a Comment

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: From the Beginning | Part 3: The Flood 

Moses gives us one more application of Creation that I’d like to note. One of the Ten Commandments, the fourth, makes a direct reference to the creation as a basis for application to how we live. I note that two of the commandments—the second and the fourth—receive considerably more column inches than the others. (Not that any of the ten are “less” important than the others, of course.) The second, which forbids graven images, protects the holiness of God; since God is unlike any of his creatures, to make an image of him is to represent him as less than he actually is.

Does the fourth commandment do something similar? God says that his people are to honor the Sabbath—because he did. Interestingly, there is a second recounting of the Ten Commandments over in Exodus 31, where God says something that ought to get our attention. He says there that by resting on the seventh day, God “was refreshed” (Ex 31.17).

Now, God doesn’t get tired; he’s omnipotent. And creating the universe, even in just six days, was not at all taxing for him. But when he finished his astonishing work, since he had created time as well as space, he took some of that time to sit back and enjoy—take pleasure in—what he had created. We know, because he created sunsets, that he enjoys the beauty of sunsets; we know, because he created flowers, that he enjoys the beauty of flowers.

One of God’s attributes is aestheticism.

And because we are in his image, we should take the time to sit back and enjoy a job well done.

Aaaahhhh.

Is there more to it than that?

I note that in Israel, violating the Sabbath was a capital offense (Ex 31.14). Does God kill people for being insufficiently aesthetic?

I suppose, given enough time and thought, I could try to make a case for that, but I don’t think it’s necessary; these passages add further depth to the significance of the Sabbath.

God calls this practice “a Sabbath of rest” (Ex 31.15). We’ve noted that he was not tired at the end of the Creation week, so the seventh day did not serve as recuperative for him. But he knows that we, his people, whom he loves, do get tired, and as he provides all our other needs, he provides our need for proper rest and recovery from exertion. He goes further than that; he commands it. We must rest, as a sign of our relationship with our Creator God.

Work/life balance. It’s a thing.

We think we show our love for God by doing all the things. Well, if we love him, we do obey him. But we don’t show love for him by abusing ourselves in his service; we plan regular times of refreshment, of enjoying his presence and the beauty of where he has placed us in his created world.

Which brings us back to aesthetics, doesn’t it?

Some years ago I was blessed to visit in the home of a Messianic Jewish family in Arad, Israel, on a Friday evening. We gathered around the table for supper, joined hands, and sang their traditional song:

Shabbat shalom!
Shabbat shalom!
Shabbat shalom, shalom!
Shabbat shalom!

We smiled, and we circled the table, and I experienced newly the joy of entering into God’s Sabbath rest, receiving it as a precious gift, and delighting in it for itself alone.

How much we 9-to-5 commuters abandon, and unnecessarily.

I don’t have room here for a thorough discussion of Sabbath theology; there’s a lot more to it, and there are whole books on the topic, from both sabbatarian and non-sabbatarian perspectives, and in each of these directly opposing views there are strengths and motivations to appreciate. Suffice it to say that it is a deeply important concept—and the reason it is important is that it is rooted in the doctrine of Creation.

If we have no Creator, we have no provider; we have no meaningful beneficence; and we have no assurance that there is one who loves us perfectly, knowledgeably, and wisely for time and for eternity.

Rest.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash